We preach it all the time here on the blog: foreign (western) brands and businesses should seriously consider modifying certain aspects of their digital strategies to perform at a higher level in China in terms of visibility, credibility, and profitability. Why? Because the Chinese online consumer population is largest in the world, and it’s only growing. A recent study reported that a whopping 36% of China nationals purchase goods and services from digital platforms, at least once per week. That’s a weekly total of over 500 Million people, nearly double the amount of the entire United States population! In the wake of this unprecedented e-commerce growth, foreign brands haven’t quite figured out how to keep up in terms of successfully marketing to and reaching this massive population. Foreign brands big and small are still relying on many outdated methods of reaching Chinese consumers, such as email marketing, even though email as a tool is being used less and less in China in favor of popular and easy-to-use communication platforms such as WeChat. In the midst of e-commerce completely taking over as the primary method of Chinese consumerism, foreign brands should react quickly and stay on top of the digital trends in China, including the utilization of their Chinese localized brand, products, and services through the use of fully-Chinese websites for marketing purposes built on an exclusive, newly-approved Chinese domain extension. Last month’s formal approval by the Chinese government of the new Chinese domain extensions .在线 (“Dot Chinese Online”) and .中文网 (“Dot Chinese Website”) to be legally marketed and sold by approved vendors in China mean big news for foreign brands and businesses, as relevant fully-Chinese web addresses can now be used, more than ever before, as a powerful tool to leverage within China to reach more consumers and lead them to your site or promotion whether it’s through mobile or desktop. Case in point, tech giant Amazon has adopted and currently utilizes the fully-Chinese domain name 亚马逊.在线 (amazon.online) as a redirect to its Chinese site, amazon.cn. Smart move, Amazon! Another strategy that continues to grow in use and popularity, which we’ve also covered on the blog before as well, is the online-to-offline buying phenomenon, better known as O2O. Let me remind you that O2O sales is expected to top $626 billion by 2018 as the rate of Chinese consumers interacting with brands online and offline is taking place at a higher rate each day. Foreign brands must take note. The O2O revolution is already underway, and foreign brands and businesses can once again utilize this strategy to bolster their presence in China, with a website built on a relevant Chinese domain name. Several foreign brands and businesses are beginning to...

Just recently, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) worked in tandem with TLD Registry Ltd. to create and publish a concise and informative case study of newly-accredited Chinese IDNs, .在线 (Dot Chinese Online) and .中文网 (Dot Chinese Website). The case study (also available for download on ICANN's case study page) includes a brief overview of the background of .在线 and .中文网, and highlights the value and promising potential that these extensions can provide for brands, businesses, individuals, and any other online venture seeking to utilize a language spoken by nearly a quarter of humanity. VIEW PDF BELOW: chinese-online-website-us-letter-en Share this: Email Twitter LinkedIn Google Facebook More Pocket Tumblr Pinterest Reddit Sina...

Earlier this week, it was reported that TLD Registry has secured one of the most vital pieces to running a successful domain business in China: full accreditation with the state agency of the Chinese government that regulates the Internet from within China - The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT). As an encore to last week's major news, we released a video documentary, shown below, which follows CEO Arto Isokoski and VP Pinky Brand from TLD Registry Ltd. as they spread the word in China about their fully Chinese IDN domain extensions .在线 (Dot Chinese Online) and .中文网 and (Dot Chinese Website) to potential registrar partners, IP lawyers, government folks and potential end-users. The documentary provides some general insight into all the travel, preparation, speeches, meetings, and celebrations that these guys have executed, and endured. You also see some of the incredible contrasts that daily life within China offers to those entrepreneurs that have invested resources into penetrating this lucrative market. There are also cameos from other registry operators known in the industry, such as Jeff Sass and Colin Campbell from .CLUB, who have spent time on the road in China with the TLD Registry folks as marketing partners. The documentary was produced and edited by 21 year industry veteran Pinky Brand (who used to be in the TV news business in another lifetime) and TLD Registry Ltd. It covers the period March 2014 to January 2017. Share this: Email Twitter LinkedIn Google Facebook More Pocket Tumblr Pinterest Reddit Sina...

As of February 10 2017, TLD Registry has secured one of the most vital pieces to running a successful domain business in China: full accreditation with the state agency of the Chinese government that regulates the Internet from within China - The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT). This is huge news for the company, and the MIIT accreditation means big changes for how .在线 (Dot Chinese Online) and .中文网 and (Dot Chinese Website) are marketed, sold, and used in China. See below for some quick facts on what the accreditation means for TLD Registry: What Does This MIIT Accreditation Mean? Becoming accredited with MIIT effectively means that .在线 (Dot Chinese Online) and .中文网 and (Dot Chinese Website), the domain extensions that TLD Registry fully owns and operates, are now legally recognized extensions by the state agency of the Chinese government that regulates the Internet from within China. What Does “Legally Recognized” Mean? In China, if an individual or organization wishes to set up and host a website from China’s mainland, they must first acquire an Internet Content Provider (ICP) license from MIIT, which appears in the footer area of the front page of the website The ICP license is only issued by Chinese regulators after verifying that the website will be hosted in China, will operate using one of the currently 30 legal domain extensions, as well as other forms of submitted documentation about the website owner and company. In theory, someone might be able to register a name in a “non-legal” domain extension and attempt to host a website associated with that name from within China, however since the “non-legal” domain extension would not include the ICP license, the Registrant’s website could result in MIIT taking action against them, which could include blocking their website(s) from resolving at any time without notice. How Does This Affect Chinese Netizens? Now that .在线 and .中文网 are legally recognized extensions by MIIT, Chinese netizens have an additional option to the 30 other legal extensions to use and set up a website for personal, business, or any other purpose that suits them, without the fear of their website getting blocked or shutdown without notification. In other words, Chinese netizens can now acquire an ICP license, set up their website using a .在线 or .中文网 extension, and use it legally for any online venture they wish to pursue.​ Not only does the new legal status of .在线 and .中文网 give Chinese netizens a stress-free and legal alternative to a crowded marketplace of domain extensions, but the ability to set up and use a website using a domain extension that’s in their own native language immediately establishes trust and credibility within China....

During the final week of January, members of the ChopChop Domains team attended the third annual NamesCon Domain Name conference in Las Vegas. NamesCon, which has continued to grow each year, has once again surpassed our expectations and provided an excellent opportunity for domain investors, registrars, registries, hosting companies, IP and brand protection agencies, and many others to learn and develop their business in the domain name investment ecosystem. Most of the sessions, panels, and networking events during NamesCon primarily focused on cultivating no-nonsense strategies for western domain investors of all experience levels to hone their skills and ultimately make their domain business profitable. However, there is always buzz surrounding the enigmatic Chinese domain market, and so we figured it would be a useful exercise to document some important aspects of domain investing, specifically in the Chinese market, that stuck out to us during NamesCon. Although China makes up a substantial piece of the domain market pie, it can be incredibly difficult to pin down the ebbs and flows of the market, and knowing how and when to appropriately capitalize on maximizing ROI in the China domain space is not an easy task. At ChopChop Domains, we aim to not only provide you with the best possible Chinese domain name registration options, but we strive to educate our audiences on the China domain market in general as well. So, let’s get into some not-so-obvious takeaways of the Chinese domain market from our time spent at NamesCon 2017. Takeaway #1 The first thing I wanted to touch on, which seemed to have been brought up sporadically among the crowded choices of panel sessions, is the fact that domain markets are always fluctuating, especially in China. We all remember when 4-letter, non-vowel Chinese Premiums (CHIP’s, as referred by the domainer community) went through a period of time when they were selling left and right in China, resulting in value spike. Investors who bought and sold CHIP’s were seeing decent returns coming from China, and the trend plodded along as the increased value held strong. Then, not even a year later, CHIP’s began to slowly depreciate as less and less Chinese domainers were investing in them. Following the domain community, no one can really determine the exact reason for why this market trend lost value in a relatively short period of time. But that’s just part of the ever-changing domain market! Lesson Learned The lesson learned here is that markets are fluctuating in China all the time, so don’t put all your eggs in one basket with one strategy that will likely see a loss of value in time. Instead, plan your investment strategies while keeping fluctuation...

Just a few weeks ago, on January 10th, TLD Registry was a proud sponsor and invited speaker at the 2nd annual China Domain Name Development Conference held at the Beijing New World Hotel. The event was co-organized by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT), the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology (CAICT), the Internet Society of China (ISC) and the ICANN Beijing Engagement Center. Attendance was reported to be over 300 (triple vs. last year), consisting of registry operators, registrars, domain investors, the media and representatives from MIIT, CAICT, ISC and ICANN. There were plenty of content and networking opportunities to keep one busy the entire day. This is just a partial list of some of the topics that were covered: Domain Name Industry Regulation. Review of 2016 and outlook for 2017. Internet development trends in China Domain industry development trends in China UASG: Where are we now. Report on Chinese IDN Universal Acceptance Roundtable: Domain names in the new era TLD entry license and review Evolution of DNS structure and security practices at China Telecom Trends of new gTLDs in the China Market Analysis of the Digital Assets ecosystem and its future Our CEO, Mr. Arto Isokoski, presented on "Providing innovation to the Chinese domain name marketplace." He offered comments on the China opportunity, the importance of the digital economy, and upcoming Chinese IDN email initiatives. Our VP, Mr. Pinky Brand, participated in an extensive roundtable discussion: "Domain Name Market: The Next Step" with representatives from CONAC, Rightside, GMO, 190.com, West.cn, Yuwei, Domain.cn, RITT, and Afilias. As at any domain name conference, one of the best benefits of attending is the opportunity to network! There was no shortage of opportunities to do so in Beijing, especially at dinner, where many of the "who's who" of the China domain name industry were on hand to talk shop and visit with old and new friends. In addition to the photos posted above, we've also created a short 3 1/2 minute video and photo montage to give you a taste of our day at the conference. We look forward to participating again! Enjoy. 2nd China Domain Name Development Conference from Pinkard Brand on Vimeo. Share this: Email Twitter LinkedIn Google Facebook More Pocket Tumblr Pinterest Reddit Sina...